ATTENTION: ALL MEDIA
DATE: 19 March 2013
INQUIRIES: Lulu Mxekezo
TEL: (053) 830 2112 / 083 357 4441
RE: NGO and Community Health Care Workers Conference
______________________________________________________________________
The Northern Cape Department of Health cordially invites you to a media briefing on Wednesday, 20 March 2013 at the Tabernacle Church after the NGO and Community Health Care Workers Conference. The Conference will be held from the 19th to 20th March 2013. The theme of the conference is “Towards Re-engineering Primary Health Care – Redefining the Role of NGO’s”
The aim of the conference is to:
To re-define the roles of NGOs and Community Health workers in Community Health services, in the advent of key policy shifts and strategic focus (e.g Primary Health Care Re engineering, the National Health Insurance and the Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP) 2012-16).
To highlight the status of HIV, TB and Maternal Health in the past 4 years.
To provide information to NGOs regarding the legal requirements pertaining to reporting (financial and non-financial)
The details of the media briefing are as follows:
Date: Wednesday, 20th March
Venue: Tabernacle Church, Mark Okkert Street, Kimberley
Time: 10:00 am
The current Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP) (2012-16) presents a consensus roadmap for Northern Cape to achieve provincial goals towards HIV prevention, treatment and care and support by 2016. All this is an attempt to meet the set vision for South Africa which is:
Zero new HIV and TB infections;
Zero new HIV infections from mother to child transmission
Zero preventable deaths associated with HIV and TB
Zero discrimination associated with HIV and TB
In an attempt to achieve the above, the Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP) has been structured in a multi-sectoral framework approach so as to encourage a variety of role players (civil society, private sector, non-profit organizations and communities) to work together with the provincial government. The pronouncement made by the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi to strengthen the delivery of health services through the Re-engineering of Primary Health Care (PHC) is an example of how, through the involvement of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community Health Workers (CHW), the current health system can be overhauled in the country. Primary Health Care (PHC) as the foundation of the national health system. The district health system (DHS) was adopted and a PHC package of services was accordingly designed thereafter.
It cannot be emphasized enough, that the role of civil society in this approach is of paramount importance. While the relationship between the department and contracted NGO’s has come a long way, it is critical to embrace the changing environment in which health services are being rendered in general, outside of the narrow focus of “Community Home based Care (CHBC)” as it had come to be widely known. While CHBC services will still be rendered, it must be understood that the paradigm shift brought about by the dawn of PHC Re-engineering, will reduce the scale of CHBC, while most preventative services will be in the service package to be delivered by the Ward-based Outreach Teams and the School Health Programme.
Your presence at the media briefing will be highly appreciated. ENDS
Issued by the Northern Cape Department of Health